Source routing is a routing technique in which the route by which a packet traverses a network segment is specified, typically within a source route header. The source route header may comprise a strict list or a loose list of links and/or nodes to traverse. A strict list explicitly lists all of the links and/or nodes a packet may be transported over. A loose list can specify one or more links and/or nodes that the packet may traverse through to reach a destination, but the loose list may not include all the links and/or nodes that a packet traverses to reach the destination. Implementing source routing may simplify data forwarding network nodes (e.g., routers or switches) and reduce routing time and latency when compared to using a forwarding table. Instead of performing lookup functions using the forwarding table, a network node can use the routing information within the source route header to forward the data packet.